The internal political landscape of 1950's Soviet Russia takes on darkly comic form in a new film by Emmy award-winning and Oscar-nominated writer/director Armando Iannucci. In the days following Stalin's collapse, his core
team of ministers tussle for control; some want positive change in the Soviet Union, others have more sinister motives. Their one common trait? They're all just desperately trying to remain alive. A film that combines comedy, drama, pathos and
political manoeuvring, The Death of Stalin is a Quad and Main Journey production, directed by Armando Iannucci, and produced by Yann Zenou, Kevin Loader, Nicolas Duval Assakovsky, and Laurent Zeitoun. The script is written by Iannucci, David
Schneider and Ian Martin, with additional material by Peter Fellows.

The Russian release of British comedy film The Death of Stalin has been shelved following a screening before senior figures on Monday night. The Russian attendees complained that the satire contained ideological warfare and extremism. The
film's distribution certificate was withdrawn, effectively cancelling its planned Thursday release.

The screening was attended by members of parliament as well as representatives from Russian cinema. Yelena Drapeko, deputy head of the lower house of parliament's culture committee, told RBK news she had never seen anything so disgusting in my
life.

The film, from director Armando Iannucci, is a satire of the power struggle in Moscow following Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's death in 1953. Many of the main characters are real historical figures.

February is the anniversary of the Russian victory at the Battle of Stalingrad in 1943. It was led by Marshal Georgy Zhukov whose daughter was one of 21 signatories on an open letter to the culture minister, Vladimir Medinsky, complaining about
the film. The letter said:

The film insults the Russian people and even the Soviet Union's national anthem - heard in the trailer was used inappropriately.

Update: Cinema threatened after screening the banned film to an invited audience

The Russian Culture Ministry has warned cinemas in the country that they will face legal ramifications if they continue to show the banned film, The Death Of Stalin. The statement came after the Pioner (Pioneer) movie theater in Moscow defied the
government ban and screened the film to a packed audience.

Showing a movie without a license can bring a fine of up to 100,000 rubles ($1,800). A second violation could lead to a theater's closure. Police officers raided the Pioner theater along with what appeared to be plain-clothes officers on January
26.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov ludicrously claimed the banning of the film did not constitute censorship. He said: We disagree that it's a manifestation of censorship.

Military historian Anthony Beevor has had one of his books banned in Ukraine. The 1998 bestseller Stalingrad was barred for import last week alongside 24 other books for being anti-Ukrainian.

The accusation was levelled at Beevor's examination of the Second World War battle due to passages about Ukrainian militias slaughtering Jewish children on SS orders.

Serhiy Oliyinyk, the head of the Ukrainian State TV and Radio Broadcasting's licensing and distribution control department, alleges that the account hasn't been proven and was based on unreliable Soviet secret police material.

The author has responded that he used thoroughly reliable German sources; not Soviet sources, including a book by Helmut Groscurth, an anti-Nazi German officer, that was backed up by eyewitness accounts.

Beevor branded the ban preposterous and called the state's position completely unsustainable.

Paddington is happily settled with the Brown family in Windsor Gardens, where he has become a popular member of the community, spreading joy and marmalade wherever he goes. While searching for the perfect present for his beloved Aunt Lucy's 100th
birthday, Paddington spots a unique pop-up book in Mr. Gruber's antique shop, and embarks upon a series of odd jobs to buy it. But when the book is stolen, it's up to Paddington and the Browns to unmask the thief.

Paddington Bear 2, a comedy about a friendly bear has sparked an unlikely scandal over government discrimination against foreign films in Russia this week.

Russian cinemas were left dumbfounded after the Culture Ministry delayed issuing a screening license for Paddington 2, one day before it was scheduled to be released in theaters.

The ministry said it delayed the Jan. 18 screening until Feb. 1 because of another film scheduled to premiere on the same day. Russia's Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky said the decision was made in the interests of Russian films and not in the
interests of Hollywood..

Remarkably, the distributing company announced late on Friday that the ministry's decision had been overturned after public pressure and an official appeal to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Medinsky explained:

We have come to a consensus with the industry, and have decided to meet the Volgafilm company halfway and allow the release of the film tomorrow [Jan. 20],.

In the twilight of Imperial Russia, prima ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya becomes the mistress of three Grand Dukes.

Ukrainian authorities have banned the release of the Russian film Matilda featuring the story of romance between Crown Prince Nicholas [would-be Czar Nicholas II] and the young etoile of the Imperial Ballet, Mathilde Kschessinska.

Dmitry Kapranov, a censor from the State Agency for Cinematography [Goskino], said on Wednesday the decision was taken because of participation in the film of a musician whom the Ukrainian authorities had put on the blacklist of unwanted
foreigners. He said:

Now we've denied permission for a release of the film 'Matilda' on the basis of formal criteria. Our spectators may say, of course, well he is just a musician and you ban the film but I can ask them in response, would you go to the
marketplace and buy the watermelons with nitrates there?

Such watermelons do contain some vitamins but they also contain the nitrates, Kapranov said. And these people on the blacklist are the very same nitrates and their produce is therefore poisoned.

Matilda, a film directed by Alexei Uchitel, was released in Russia in October 2017. It aroused a scandal in the wake of heated public debates stirred by the State Duma deputy Natalya Poklonskaya, who campaigned for banning it. Poklonskaya claimed
that Matilda supposedly insulted the memory of Nicholas II, who is canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church as a new holy martyr for faith, and the feelings of believers.